So I stopped being lazy to write a complete review for the game in its current state. Shortly: it is amazing. There are no games like it. There are auto-battlers, which are good in their own ways and good as their own games, but I believe this one to be original in its idea. It is simply above others.

Different characters offer distinctive gameplay, but at the same time, they (except Jules) allow for the mishmash of different playstyles. You can create unique, one in a million, builds with items from different characters that work. And the dopamine rush you get once you figure out how to do best with items that you are given, woah…

I hate talking about pros and cons, as I simply enjoy the game and hate on developers (mostly), but for you, average player, it would be easier to decide whether to buy it or not (yes, you should buy it).

Pros.

Amazing visual style and sound design, as well as soundtrack. Devs absolutely cooked, as game is stunning in its art and sound direction. Check screenshots, listen to the in-game’s music on YouTube, check streams or videos. The game is absolutely beautiful, and artists keep on delivering.

Almost endless skill scaling. If you only watch videos or streams, you probably feel that game is too hard to understand. For most of my friends, it looked like straight up casino. I completely understand their notion, as from the side perspective it is really hard to get a comprehensive understanding of how to play this game, as it is strictly drag and click.

But once you start playing it, once you start learning, you would feel extremely satisfied. My friends started playing this game by only watching handful of videos and my abhorrent gameplay, and I can clearly see the progress they made. Now they cook build and give on-time opinions, that sometimes rival mine.

There is a limitless potential for you I still haven’t reach the ceiling, after sinking almost 1000 hours (from before Steam + Steam). Playing this game is like learning how to cook – you start with very basic dishes, until you reach some extremely sophisticated, Michelin-level perfections. And there is no limit for perfection.

Consistent updates. Devs keep delivering consistent, seasonal update each months, with hotfixes every couple weeks during the season. I would not lie, updates vary from broken, to decently broken. In every patch, something will break – be it visual bugs, gameplay bugs, or devs blatantly overtuning certain items, which can lead to frustrating experience. But nonetheless, the updates are consistent, and usually it is like 10:1 ratio of good things added and things broken.

Online multiplayer. This will hit a sweet spot for a lot of people, because although game is online multiplayer, it is asynchronous multiplayer. You can pause the game or leave at any time, with the only consequence being a chance of assigned a more broken build at the end of the day. You never feel pressed to play, but you will want to play even past your own set time.

Cons.

Balancing. I believe balancing in this game is like biopolar girl’s mood swings – either everything is good or everything is awful. Even when you feel that game is balanced, there are items that are just too strong to pass. And there are items that are being left untended for a long time, or just straight up not worth it in like 99% of scenarios. Yes, you can argue that this 1% makes item viable, and I agree, but to get to that point you would need to be extremely lucky.

There is no issue with hero balancing or skill balancing, but knowing the item pool for certain day allows you to quickly build a very strong build. I will not set examples, as they might be outdated by the time you read this, but in game history’s there were items, that if you would pass you would lose. This is very bad, as the game should encourage you trying out and pivoting into new things.

Monetization. Devs made some very unpopular decisions, of which I do not want to talk about, ‘cause for now they do not matter anymore. But they might matter in the light of potential, new way of monetization. Currently game is in good monetization state. Base edition offers 3 original characters, and you can purchase 3 more for 20 euro each. Pricey? Yes. But keep in mind, that new characters open a lot of new ways to integrate in core gameplay. Hence I believe the price is justified. This is way more than most nowadays AAA games offer, while being priced as AAA game.

UPD: It seems that my focusrite is indeed being wiretaped, as devs dropped prices by 5 dollar for everything.

New hero mechanics. Usually a new hero adds a new mechanic to the game, but they are badly integrated, with the exception of Mac. Stelle added “Flying” mechanic, which works best with her, but at the same time offers a passive buff to the other heroes as well.

But recently released Jules offers no benefits to other characters, only to herself. Yes, you can get stoves (hero introduced mechanic) on other characters, but it simply not worth it. There is so little reason to do it, that you should not do it. Her items work best with her mechanic, hence for other heroes it just clutters item pool.

I am afraid with future characters developers would follow similar trend.

Dopamine terrorism. Devs are dopamine terrorists©. This will sound like a conspiracy, but you would not believe how many times my item just did not go off, or did not crit with a chance of 97%, or I fought a build that specifically counters mine. You would just not believe.

I do not think its a coincidence when it happens, not anymore. The Rothschilds are after me or something, because the longer you play, the more clearly you will notice these patterns. Especially at the start of new patch, you get extreme luck with items and skill drops, and by the midway you barely scrape a build together to get a win.

The games hooks you up on dopamine and do not let go, like a casino. After all, what ten loses in a row matter, when you get a huge build after and experience that sweet hit?

Conclusion.

All in all, with all my whining above^, I would still strongly recommend getting this game, as there no game other like it on the market. And I do not think there would be another game like it in near future.

P.S Sorry for all the typos and bad grammar, I wrote it all in a spur of a moment and I trust no clanker to check my text.

XOXO,
JGreham.

It's okay

So, while this game has many problems—being released in 2025 on UE5 (which is already a death sentence) and lacking much world interactivity—it still provides an elevated experience.

Yes, I fully agree and admit that the lack of engaging world interactivity looks very bad for a game released in 2025 with this price tag. However, I completely forgot about it after several hours of gameplay. It's really not the main focus, and it's not something you should dwell on. Otherwise, how can you enjoy playing any game if you focus only on its flaws?

Starting with the captivating storyline and characters, and ending with really great gameplay. This was quite unexpected for me—to see this level of polished gameplay from Obsidian, basically known for everything else but that.

This game also, in my opinion, perfected Obsidian's companions. They are really responsive to the world and everything around them: to the main story, to each other, and to their own problems. It was really a joy to learn more and more about them, even about Marius, who at first I thought to be completely unappealing.

In the end, they grow on you, like brothers and sisters in arms, and you trust their opinions and judgments in critical moments. Obsidian really perfected the formula here, and I can't wait to see how they improve on it in their future games.

The story and lore are what really take the main spotlight here, as they are captivating and complex. It deals first with natural problems, then political ones, or things in between. I really felt that my actions affected the characters and the world, both in a physical and metaphorical sense. Really great story writing, as expected from Obsidian.

Overall, I give it a solid 7/10 experience. Should you buy it for the full price? Only if you're a die-hard RPG/Obsidian fan. Should you get it at discount or in Xbox pass? Yes, definitely consider it.

-JG

One of the best action shooter experiences you can get there, if not the best - tampered with glitchy cutscenes that really removes from the immersion. Otherwise sold 8/10

I've been following this game since the very first playtest and it is beautiful how much it has grown.

This is really a passion project and you can feel the love developers put in the game and community.

Overall, I am not a big fun of the genre, but pretty unique setting and aesthetic pulled me in so much that I have been playing every demo. This is quite rare for me.

Can't wait to see how much game will improve over time; already now it offers a ton of content.

Totally worth every dime.